Shade
by Tsukasa Twilight Guardian
Summary: 16 years post-Jak 3 the Council has seized control of Haven and are worse than Praxis ever was. The Underground is no closer to winning after Ashlein is murdered. Enter the Shade, the only person to ever replace Samos as Haven's Most Wanted.Summary inside
1. Chapter 1

**Tsukasa**: Don't shoot, stay those morph guns! CHARACTER DEATH WARNING

I don't own any thing! AU! _**Ignores**_ _**Jak**_ _**X**_ _**completely (Along with Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier)**_. Also the people of Haven revere Jak and Daxter as heroes because of their battle against Gol and Maia and the names are rarely used out of respect to them. They think that the "other" Jak and Daxter's same names being just a coincidence.

Summary: Haven has reverted to it's Hell Hole status: A tyrannical council is rebelling under Ashlien's rule after the dark maker attack and managed to get enough power to re-banish Jak. 16 years after this, Ashlein is assassinated which the reformed Underground led again by Torn is still reeling from. For the first time since Praxis was overthrown, the Shadow (Samos) has been replaced as #1 on Haven's Most Wanted: A mysterious person known simply as 'The Shade' has taken his place. An AWOL guard who knows far too much about certain things but far too little about herself. The Underground can use all the help it can get but will this outlaw help or will she just continue to run?**************____******

Chapter 1: Racing is all there is

**?POV**

Racing is the only way to stay alive, and I race very well. So it's no wonder people want me to join their garages, but I race for no one for too long. I've got too much of a past to escape. Haven ain't exactly a Haven for any one. In fact, it's more of a Hell hole. But I have no where else to go. Nobody does. We all have to live under the corrupt new council who, I hear, are ten times worse than the Baron that was over thrown just before I was born. My mother abandoned me when I was six, and weeks later I found she'd killed herself. I hide from my grandfather; I don't think he even knows I exist.

My mom was a pretty woman; aquamarine hair that reached her shoulders, a heart shaped face and brilliant green eyes. She was thin and was depressed but I'm sure she was pretty when she smiled. She would always build new things, but one day, just before I turned six she picked up this picture and fell to pieces. She wouldn't let me see the picture and probably hid it some where in our old home by the stadium but I am betting it was a picture of daddy. She never spoke of him and wouldn't answer me when I asked about him. If I was anything to go on, he was a catch. I didn't think I was attractive but the boys chasing after me said otherwise. I wish I looked like mom though.

"Get up!" came the voice of Sam, her dad and mom were from the Wasteland. She was tall with green eyes, dark skin, and, black hair.

"Coming," I said yawning. I walked out in my blue top and gray pants to see Dan and Spike also waiting for me. Spike has his red hair in dreads like both his parents but his mom's green eyes and Dan, shortened from Danielle, was a white ottsel with orange fur on her head and wore a green tube top and black pants. Her mom, Tess, had found a way to turn her self into an ottsel and she and her husband (I don't know the story behind it), Daxter had been happy since. She has to smack him when he flirts with other women but she knows he loves only her.

"Come on Shade, you have a race in thirty minuets." Said Dan.

"I know, I know. How's the parents?" I asked.

"They keep inquiring about who the heck Shade, Blaze, and Boom are, but I won't tell." She said. Unlike her father, I hear, she can actually keep a secret.

"You'd better not tell cherry." said Sam (Boom). We gave each other these names in case we needed to meet up during a guard raid. Those happened often since Governess Ashlein was assassinated. Spike really hadn't gotten over his old lady's death yet. We try not to speak of it.

"The underground is starting again. Maybe you could join, Shade." Said Spike (Blaze).

"No, I don't think I want to work for some one whose name is Shadow." I said.

"Come on! We could be heroes like Jak and Daxter." Said Dan(Streak).

"Which ones? The ones that killed Gol and Maia or the ones the defeated the Metal head leader Kor?" I asked.

"Both!" said Dan. She was _way_ overly eager to get involved in these things.

"You guys can join but I'll have to think about it." I said. I grabbed my helmet from the table in the small 3 room apartment I lived in with Sam, she and I alternated who got the bedroom. I slipped the helmet on and headed out. Another thing, aside from the three people in the apartment and my mother, no one has ever seen my face.

"I'll be at the stadium if you should need me." I yelled. As soon as I shut the door I ran right into Edge. He was a nice guy; he and I would race together sometimes.

"Hey there Shade." He said.

"Hey there Flash." I said.

"How are Boom, Streak, and Blaze?" he asked. He didn't know the others that well and vice versa.

"Good. They keep getting on me to join the Underground." I said.

"Well I might join, but my parents might not let me, my uncle being a guard and all." He said. His uncle had died in a racing accident years ago, and Edge looked just like him; red eyes, hair, and he had a stocky build. Flash and I used to both serve in the guard before I went AWOL upon finding out about the Dark Warrior program. And Red really ain't my color.

That is why I can't stay in one place too long: because I know too much. But I've managed to keep my real name even from the guards who hunt me. No one's ever gonna learn it either. As long as I keep racing no one's gonna keep me down.

**Flash POV **

I followed Shade to the stadium incase the guards ambushed her. I wonder what she looked like with out her helmet on. She never took it off in public so all I knew was she had some of the bluest eyes I've ever looked into. My uncle; I don't remember him at all. He went berserk and evil. Glad I don't remember him. I'd have nightmares if I did. I caught my reflection and looked at the figure that looked back. The tattoos were now a part of me and I wish they weren't. Shade some how managed to get away with wearing gray paint on her face and because she used so much of it; it was hard to tell what her facial features were. I'm sure that's what she was doing intentionally. She'd only had her helmet part way off once and all I can remember was her face was beautiful.

It was only a split second but at least three other guys realized she was a beauty too. Now I had competition-bad Edge! Bad! I walked into the stands and saw Shade's zoomer lowered onto the track. I looked over and saw in a hover chair was high councilor Veris. Oh no. There was going to be a raid and I knew the intended target. I dug into my pocket and pulled out a communicator that Shade had given me. I turned it on.

"Boom speaking?" came a girl's voice.

"Boom, this is Flash. Big Brother is moving in on Shade." I said. Shade called the council Big Brother. I hoped they knew what I was talking about.

"Stay put Flash, we're coming." said Boom.

**Boom POV**

That cherry had gone and gotten herself in trouble again. Well Shade not in trouble would be as disturbing as my dad's poopsie bear. Scratch that, _nothing_ is quite as disturbing as seeing a big Wastelander curled up with a tattered teddy bear. It'd be like seeing King Mar smile. I'd only been home a few times since I infiltrated Haven to find out what was going on. Shade had been my first contact since she'd been a guard at the time and since she went AWOL, I'd been helping her escape the attempts made on her life. Very few knew my name was Sam. Fewer still knew I was a Wastelander. Shade was the only one who knew I was a Wastelander and I'd been meaning to ask my father and King Mar if she could come to the wasteland for her own safety.

She was a natural when it came to fighting.

We were moving as fast as we could while concealing our weaponry. I had a morph gun Shade had fixed up. She said her mom was good with machines too. Her mother was taboo. The only thing I knew was her mother was an amazing mechanic who took her own life. I was forbidden to even tell Streak and her father and my father went way back.

"Shade's in danger again. What is it this time?" said Blaze to thin air.

"We have to stop them from getting her!" I said cutting off the idle chit chat. We had a friend whose skinny white ass we had to save.

**Shade POV**

What was that slimy bastard doing here-oh shit! They were after me! Too late to run now. I glanced over the crowd and saw Flash talking into the communicator. I'd have to hold the guards off for a few minutes instead of alone. I am ever grateful to my friends. If only I knew I could trust them with my life's secret. No, knock it off Shade you've got to race for your life.

I looked up and saw the bastard smiling. He was going to postpone the race! He was going to try to apprehend me where I was positioned. Well that wasn't going to happen; this elf has a few tricks up her sleeves. Tricks like channeling. I revved my zoomer as he announced what a menace I was and the crowd was booing him since they already knew what I'd done and wanted to see a race. I leapt my zoomer over the other racers and began down the track as guard zoomers raced onto the track; the other racers abandoned their zoomers as the guards raced after me, firing at me as I raced ahead. I saw a boost and took it and the one on my tail crashed into a wall: One down several to go.

I reached into my racing suit and pulled out a small sphere containing yellow eco I crushed it in my hands and absorbed the eco. I fired as many fire balls at my pursuers as I could while the yellow eco lasted and I was driving one handed and I almost crashed into a wall. I only had three left when I reached an open space and I spotted Boom aiming at them and I heard said sound and I was home free. If only there was an eco that could let my fly, I'd have been able to make a cleaner get away.

I leapt off my zoomer and landed on my feet. I smirked up at Veris and I knew he knew what was on my face because he wiped it off with the show of force he displayed next and I prayed to what ever deity there was to forgive me for my berserker mode.

**Boom POV**

Oh boy. She was gonna blow!

"EVERYONE WHO VALUES LIFE RUN!" I yelled and dragged everyone out. I saw Flash running out and he met up with us.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"Shade's got anger issues and when she explodes she turns ugly." I said as we ran. Many civilians got the right idea while the guards were too many steps behind. Too bad for them; they were going to get a demon's furry. Shade glows all white and fires white fire balls at people when she is pissed enough and interrupting a race that's asking for it.

"She'll have to join the Underground now. They'll be the only place to run." said Streak.

"She probably still won't and she's too hot a target to have in the Underground to begin with." said Blaze.

"Spiky boy, need I remind you which fugitive was a hot target yet still a part of the underground?" I said. He glared at me because I was right. He was wrong.

**Third POV **

Little did Boom, Blaze, Streak, Flash, and Shade knew; Torn was in the stadium watching as a strange winged creature unleashed a furry down upon the guards.

'Light eco?' he wondered. When Jak was fighting Erol he received a light transformation that he said needed light eco. How could this racer be able to use eco like this unless they were a channeler.

"Don't let the Shade escape!" yelled Veris. Torn despised that man more than he had the Baron, he had no proof of it yet, but he knew he was the man who had killed Ashlein. If this man wanted the channeler then Torn wasn't going to let him have them. Veris didn't stand a chance. The furry of the channeler increased as they faced Veris. There were no remains of him. The glow left the channelers .?docid=19072724 and they began to fall into the stands. Torn heard a grunt and saw a very large girl dart past him and catch the elf. The girl was black with bright green eyes and a look on her face that reminded him of Sig sans the cybernetic eye.

The girl, he'd been able to tell it was a girl as she fell and he knew the Shade's reputation, was breathing shallowly.

"Has she over done THIS before?" he asked looking to the big girl.

"A couple times and she reduced half the old fortress into slag the one time. She wasn't glowing though. When we found her she reverted from being very pale and having ash colored hair. She also had claws and fangs." said Blaze showing up. Torn looked at his son questioningly,

"Spike, you know the Shade?" he asked.

"Yeah, she's not a very sociable person and doesn't want us really telling any one we know her since you just saw what happened. Boom's almost exactly like her." He said. Boom glared at Blaze (Spike). She had her reasons as did Shade.

"Boom?" he asked.

"Code names incase what just happened happens again. I'm Edge, but they call me Flash." said Edge keeping out of Torn's line of sight.

"He's our eyes and ears in the guard." said Streak climbing on Boom's shoulder.

"Danielle?" said Torn

"Hey could we talk else where?" she asked.


	2. Chapter 2

**Tsukasa**: Don't shoot, stay those morph guns! CHARACTER DEATH WARNING

I don't own any thing! AU! _**Ignores**_ _**Jak**_ _**X**_ _**completely (Along with Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier)**_. Also the people of Haven revere Jak and Daxter as heroes because of their battle against Gol and Maia and the names are rarely used out of respect to them. They think that the "other" Jak and Daxter's same names being just a coincidence.

Summary: Haven has reverted to it's Hell Hole status: A tyrannical council is rebelling under Ashlien's rule after the dark maker attack and managed to get enough power to re-banish Jak. 16 years after this, Ashlein is assassinated which the reformed Underground led again by Torn is still reeling from. For the first time since Praxis was overthrown, the Shadow (Samos) has been replaced as #1 on Haven's Most Wanted: A mysterious person known simply as 'The Shade' has taken his place. An AWOL guard who knows far too much about certain things but far too little about herself. The Underground can use all the help it can get but will this outlaw help or will she just continue to run?

Chapter 2: Into the Fray

**Shade POV**

My head….what hit me, wait race, raid, berserker, now I know why my back is throbbing. Wait, where's my helmet! I open my eyes to see Boom hovering over me worriedly.

"Where's my helmet?" I asked.

"It's here. No one saw your face but me and Streak. What happened, what caused the vaporizing of Veris?" Said Boom worried.

"Sorry Sammy. I don't know. I wished I could fly away and guess that thought triggered that. I looked at my reflection. I saw a girl with electric blue eyes, green and blonde hair, and a naturally serious look on her face staring back. My ears had strange tips on the ends. I hated my reflection; no one else in Haven remotely resembled me. I just wish something besides my mother's mechanic skills had come to me. I needed to walk just as myself. Not as Shade, but as me; Mara.

"Cover my escape Sammy; I don't want any one to know it's me." I said.

"Sure." She said. I looked around the room and saw Sam had brought my bag from our place. In it were my casual clothes; a blue tank and tan khakis. I always wore my boots and a strange red medallion. My old lady had given it before she killed herself. She said to protect it with my life. I liked the design on it. I showed it to Sam before and she said it was the seal of the noble House of Mar: The former royal family of Haven.

I slipped out and tied a bandana around my hair. In this guise I was Keira to all but me and my deceased mother. Hopefully I won't run into my grandfather. From what I can tell, he has a log up his butt.

I was in the newly restored market sector when I noticed some one following me. It must have been because of my amulet which I casually shoved in my tank top. I went to a knickknack stand when ever I caught the reflection of four burly men behind me. It was too late because they were in mid strike. Then I knew no more.

I woke up to four men dead beside me and blood all over me. My clothing had been ripped near my chest and it no longer served its function. I ran away from that area frightened to the stadium, it was close to midnight no one's there, and into an abandoned apartment building. I found mom's apartment, no one wanted to rent it for some reason. I broke in and shut the door. I ran into the bath room and turned on the shower full blast scrubbing the blood off me.

I stepped out and found some clothing. A purple tank and magenta capri's. Not really my colors but it was all I had. It was then that I saw the cupboard had a piece of paper sticking out of it. I opened it to see it was an envelope.

MARA JAKLYN was written on the envelope. I opened it to see mom's neat hand writing smudged by what I can assume were tears.

Mara,

Sweetheart please don't hate me for taking the coward's way out. I'm dying. It's a rare disease contracted by non-channelers from over exposure to dark eco. I don't know how I got it but it'll be a long painful death and I couldn't bear to have you go through that.

Forgive me please,

Mom.

I fought the tears back and saw a holodisk. It pressed it and an image of mom appeared.

"Hi sweetie: If you find this get this to your grandfather, it contains information he needs to hear." said her voice. It was print activated so I couldn't snoop and see what it was so I slipped it into my pockets. I found nothing else but a very crinkled picture of Mom in a plain white dress next to a man in Precursorian armor in a desert with gramps to the left and a large male ottsel and his female bride to their right. The male wearing a mini tux and the female a mini wedding dress. It was hard to make out the faces; dad's face was smudged with tears and crinkled beyond recognition. But I knew that man was dad because mom was in her wedding dress. I slipped it into my pocket and slipped out of the apartment. I stealthily make my way to the sage's tent in the bazaar and set the holodisk into his tent since his tent was currently vacated. Gramps probably won't see my part of the message.

**Third POV**

Samos AKA the Shadow was alarmed by Keria's death. He could only find one suicide note and it asked him and a child to forgive her. He spotted a young woman stop by his tent while he was heading towards it and he wasn't sure but he could have sworn she looked like Jak! He entered to see a holodisk on the floor. He turned it on to see an image of Keira.

"Daddy, I'm sorry I kept my daughter a secret from you. Hopefully she is with right now watching this. If not then she must be more like her father than I thought. Daddy, I was dying of a rare dark eco caused disease. I took my life to spare my daughter." she said.

'Who's the father?' wondered Samos in shock. He wasn't aware of her being with anyone after...and he'd been banished before they'd even been able to have their wedding night. This meant child could be any homeless child in Haven. "Daddy, I need you to find her if she isn't with you. She caries something with her that people could use to take over Haven along with her channeling abilities." she pleaded to him. "Also Daddy, I'm sorry for lying to you about Mara, I truly am. This is good bye." she said and the disk ended it's message.

'Mara? Why Mara?' he wondered.

He remembered the girl just out side his tent. That had to be her….She deliberately avoided him.

"Get the channeler!" yelled a voice and he peaked out to see a girl wearing a bandana with a scarf blocking her face from view was running from the KG. She was glowing slightly yellow from yellow eco. She whipped around and fired a blast at them. He knew the drill with the council; they always went after the channelers for their twisted experiments. She ducked into an alley before he saw 6 guards go down from a giant yellow eco fire ball. The girl stooped down and pulled on a helmet to help obscure her face. He saw the newest recruits coming out from the alley to help her escape. This meant one thing; that girl was the mysterious Shade. She was topping him on the most wanted. She was a mere girl of no more than 15!

She had a strange fixation with covering her face it seemed.

**Shade POV**

Damn! No I wasn't safe as Mara or Shade. Curse that ego maniac channeler and his lack of channeling skills.

**Boom POV**

This little cherry can't take a stroll down the street without getting into trouble with the KG. It's a good thing we were near by. She covers our butts as we retreat. The KG lost us in the crowd and we manage to slip back in with out notice.

She goes to my room and gets her normal gear on before Torn can come in She switched helmets and places her normal one on completely covering all of her face save her electric blue eyes. Which is good because just after she had, Torn burst in furious.

"Who authorized leaving the base?" he asked.

"I belong to no group at the moment. I needed a walk and some overly egotistical channeler accidentally let some yellow eco touch me. I glowed yellow and before I could blink _half_ the KG was on my head for being a channeler." she said. "But I have no choice but to join you. So count me in." she said.


	3. Chapter 3

**Tsukasa**: Don't shoot, stay those morph guns! CHARACTER DEATH WARNING

I don't own any thing! AU! _**Ignores**_ _**Jak**_ _**X**_ _**completely (Along with Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier)**_. Also the people of Haven revere Jak and Daxter as heroes because of their battle against Gol and Maia and the names are rarely used out of respect to them. They think that the "other" Jak and Daxter's same names being just a coincidence.

Summary: Haven has reverted to it's Hell Hole status: A tyrannical council is rebelling under Ashlien's rule after the dark maker attack and managed to get enough power to re-banish Jak. 16 years after this, Ashlein is assassinated which the reformed Underground led again by Torn is still reeling from. For the first time since Praxis was overthrown, the Shadow (Samos) has been replaced as #1 on Haven's Most Wanted: A mysterious person known simply as 'The Shade' has taken his place. An AWOL guard who knows far too much about certain things but far too little about herself. The Underground can use all the help it can get but will this outlaw help or will she just continue to run?

Chapter 3: Downward Turn

Shade regretted it since she was too hot (As in she couldn't take five steps with out five hundred guards appearing) she had to do more menial tasks. After they found she was good with disguises she was given more and more recon missions and soon was the cover for most retreats. Her berserker modes coming in handy. One person had to stay behind to get her or she'd collapse and be at the guards' mercy. This was never a good thing. Then, after a palace recon mission she was captured no thanks to a turn coat. She never saw his face before they hit the key point in her neck knocking her out. Streak, who'd been her shoulder warmer, scrambled off Shade's shoulder taking, what seemed to be a piece of her helmet with her. It was really a holodisk full of information. She zipped out of there before the guards could notice her.

**Sam (Boom) POV**

"Boom er Sam, we need to talk." Torn said.

"Sure." I said; I was still in shock that the untouchable Shade had been captured.

"I know who you are." he said.

"Really?" I asked suspiciously.

"You're a Wastelander. Are you in contact with any one?" he asked.

"Only my dad." I said. 'Who tells our King'

"Could he get a message to Jak?" he asked.

"Jak?" I asked confused, Did he mean _the _Jak the destroyer of Metal Kor? Was he even still alive?

"Mar?" he tried again. How the heck did this cherry know King Mar? And what did Mar have to do with Jak?

"He might but, King Mar doesn't really like Haven that much at the moment." I said. I pulled out the communicator and dial home. Please don't have on your poopsie bear pj's dad! I don't need Torn scarred too.

**Third POV **

Sig was with Mar when he received the distress signal from Sam.

"Cherry?" he asked immediately worried.

"Daddy, the Poopsie bear needs back up." she said Poopsie bear being code for 'Haven needs a bail out.'

"Those sorry cherries don't deserve it." said Sig. Mar knew what he was talking about now.

"It's not for poopsie bear directly. It's for my best friend, Shade, and she is not a person you want the new council to have in prison. She's powerful and tops the Shadow on Havens most wanted going down as the most hunted woman in Haven history. She's a channeler and she told us some messed up stuff about them restarting the DWP." said Sam. Mar stiffened. Dark Warrior Program. So they were at it again.

"Jak? It's Torn." came a gruff voice. "Things are severely down hill, Ashlien's been assassinated. Metal heads are on the move again. We need your help, if you don't want to save Haven; I understand but save the girl at least. Then she could save Haven." he said.

"Boom? I finally made it, I've got something for Torn!" came a small voice in the background. Then an Ottsel appeared.

"Danielle?" asked Mar.

"Oh hi! Dad's doing fine. The bar's flourishing since lots of people need drinks with this new council." she said. Sam looked at Danielle in a 'you're going to explain later cherry or your ass is mine' kind of way still reeling from the fact King Mar was also _the_ Jak. Torn took the small holodisk and played it. The helmeted form of Shade appeared.

"Torn, Streak, Boom, Blaze, Flash, or any one on the good side. I've made this in case I get captured at the prompting of Boom being a wanted target and all. If you're watching this that means I've been killed or captured. On this disk there are the new plans for the DWP. It's worse than last time, I've compared the files. Many channelers are going to die. I'll probably die too. But promise me you'll shut it down." she said her blue eyes glittering out from her helmet. She began to remove it but there was a scratch on the holodisk and it obscured her face.

"I wish I could tell you my real name but I'm not so sure it's mine. Shade, over and out," she said.

Mar looked over that message and if the girl was right then she most likely WAS going to die along with many channelers.

"I'll help but only until the channelers have been saved along with your girl. But only because I hate any programs like the one I had to go through." he said.

"Thank you." said Torn.

Sam's message faded leaving two wastelanders trying to figure out their next move.

"To Haven?" asked Sig.

"To Haven." said Mar.

It finally dawned on Samos that his granddaughter was the Shade. It was so obvious but now she was behind enemy lines. It was also blatantly obvious who the father was.

In a holding cell out side of Haven, there were 20 channelers that had been plucked right off the streets. Matthias was one such channeler. He saw them bring in a familiar helmeted figure and was shocked. It was the Shade! Many called the mysterious former guard channeler 'the Shade' since the channeler preferred to be called 'Shade.' Many were uncertain of the Shade's gender but now that he could see the Shade up close he knew with out a doubt it was female. The guards unceremoniously threw her onto the floor and quickly retreated.

"It's the Shade!" the whispers rippled. The youngest there, age 8, walked up to her.

"She doesn't look ugly." he said. More than half the channelers in the room were male, as female channelers were hard to find since most of the time channeling abilities were passed on the X Chromosome and were recessive. The woman's mother and father would have to have had strong channeling backgrounds. If one were to count; only 5 of the now 21 prisoners were women while the other 16 were men.

The few women were all in their twenties with the exception of Shade.

"Should we remove her helmet?" asked one of the other women.

"It'd be better for use to do since the guards would make a spectacle of it." said Matthias, he was 29 the oldest of the group-all the older Channelers were dead due to DWP Round 1. He crouched next to Shade and gently began to remove her helmet. The first thing he saw was the blond braid (She was face down), then he saw that half way through it the color of her hair became green. He pulled the rest of it off only to gasp in shock. The first thoughts through his head was 'She can't be older than 15!' the second was voiced by Herta, the oldest woman at age 26, after Matthias turned her over,

"Precursors! She looks just like Jak!"


	4. Chapter 4

**Tsukasa**: Don't shoot, stay those morph guns! CHARACTER DEATH WARNING

I don't own any thing! AU! _**Ignores**_ _**Jak**_ _**X**_ _**completely (Along with Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier)**_. Also the people of Haven revere Jak and Daxter as heroes because of their battle against Gol and Maia and the names are rarely used out of respect to them. They think that the "other" Jak and Daxter's same names being just a coincidence.

Summary: Haven has reverted to it's Hell Hole status: A tyrannical council is rebelling under Ashlien's rule after the dark maker attack and managed to get enough power to re-banish Jak. 16 years after this, Ashlein is assassinated which the reformed Underground led again by Torn is still reeling from. For the first time since Praxis was overthrown, the Shadow (Samos) has been replaced as #1 on Haven's Most Wanted: A mysterious person known simply as 'The Shade' has taken his place. An AWOL guard who knows far too much about certain things but far too little about herself. The Underground can use all the help it can get but will this outlaw help or will she just continue to run?

Chapter 4: Dark Warrior Program, Take 2!

The girl did indeed resemble the banished hero greatly. Matthias set her helmet next to her and laid her on her back.

"She's beautiful." The 8 year old, Kouri, said.

"Why would she hide her face?" mused Jareth, the second oldest male channeler at 27.

"Who knows? I used to think she had scars." said Gareth, his twin brother.

"Why'd she go AWOL?" mused Matthias.

"She's waking up." said Kouri.

The first thing Shade saw was the small cherubic face of a blue haired, green eyed elf boy starring down at her.

"I'm Kouri." he said smiling revealing a few missing teeth.

"Shade." she said. Shade sat up painfully rubbing her neck. She then realized her helmet was off. She then reached for it to see a tan skinned elf with jet black hair and amber eyes blocking her hand.

"I'm Matthias." he said.

"Why are you blocking me?" she asked.

"Because, we all want to know why you cover your face." he said.

"Because, I, I," she stopped mid-sentence. "I don't like the way I look, in fact I wish I looked more like my mother. I never knew my father." she said still reaching for the helmet.

"You're beautiful." said Kouri.

"Sure, whatever, but I don't know where I got this face or these eyes or the hair even." she said. "Plus my mother was way more beautiful than me." she said. Her eyes flashed as she remembered how she got here. She abandoned getting her helmet for now.

"Gredo is so going to pay for this that filthy little turn coat!" she growled angrily.

"One of yours turned you in?" asked Matthias in shock.

"Yes. He was a spineless wonder in the first place. He was jealous that my channeling and disguise skills were better than his." she said crossing her arms in a very petulant manner, acting very much her age.

"You've all had time to get to know one another, it's now time to commence with the elimination Program." cam a voice from a speaker some where.

"For what, your glorious rip off, The Dark Warrior Program? So last oppressive regime." said Shade bored.

"You are in no position to speak woman! Who are you any way?" he asked.

"I go by many names but I think my true name is Mara." she said defiantly causing the room to stare at her. Not many women were named after Mar by making his name a feminine version by adding an 'A'. It seemed almost pure coincidence that she was also a channeler.

"Well 'Mara' we'll see if you are the one we need like the renegade before you." sneered the voice.

That's when she smelled it; the stench of decay that signified the presence of dark eco.

"EVERYONE GET AWAY FROM THE CENTER OF THE ROOM!" she yelled scooping up Kouri, who was small for an 8 year old. She ran to the walls and saw hand holds. Matthias saw it too; it clicked for him a second before it did Mara. She moved Kouri to her back while Matthias instructed all the other inmates to follow his example and climb. Three did not make it, the twins included since they were fat. Two more fell off the wall, one being a woman. Their bodies were dissolved in the dark eco instantly. Mara knew this was a test to see which would be the perfect warrior. She saw a vent to her left and a platform above Kouri'd never make it in the vent since the dark eco would flow into there and it was game over. She kept climbing despite her muscles screaming in pain.

Matthias reached the top first and pulled Mara up over the edge. She then helped others up and over. Herta's hand was drenched in sweat, Mara's was too, her hand slipped and she fell into the eco.

"NOOOO!" yelled Mara cursing everything in existence and wondering why the heck the precursors even made dark eco.

"Keep moving." said Matthias. Mara grabbed Kouri's hand and lead him through a door was as the others flooded in. She slammed down the door and saw of the original 21 only 15 remained. She knew that door wouldn't hold long.

"Keep moving." she said and began to run down the hall. "That door will only hold for, at most 10 minutes, we need to get out of here before it breaks." she yelled over her shoulder. The others ran after her into another room where another door closed behind them. She saw ammo boxes on the ground. 'Morons…' she thought. She grabbed a few rounds as she ran. Others followed her example.

If you smashed the cartridges of blaster ammo you got enough yellow eco to create a decent fire ball. Most avoided the confiscated peacemaker ammo since it was dark eco infused and dangerous to everyone. They made it to another door that sealed behind them with lasers coming out of the wall forming a shield. This the eco could not get through. Mara scanned the room.

"That was almost too easy." she muttered invoking Murphy's Law. Then death bots appeared. She smashed the blaster ammo with her booted foot absorbing the yellow eco and channeling it blasting as many as she could before she ran out. Others had followed her lead and took out all but four. She dropped more ammo on the floor and melted the one right in front of her; Kouri had absorbed some too and melted the one aiming at her the others having taken care of the other bots. It wasn't casualty free; the bots had claimed 3 more of the already small group. Mara found she'd been grazed by a bullet on her right forearm.

She was bleeding but it wasn't enough to be worried over. She heard a boom and saw that the corrosive eco was about to wear away the circuitry that kept it at bay.

"Run!" she yelled channeling what was left of her eco hitting the ceiling tiles to see there was a crawl space. The dead bots made a nice stepping stone to get into the roof. Mara had Kouri placed in first so he could start crawling right away. She leapt into the hole just as the dark eco sloshed at where her feet had been moments before. She followed the others who alternated channeling blue eco to get a head and light the way to tell them when they'd come upon a vent.

They found and air vent only big enough for Mara and Kouri to fit into, but the ceiling followed it.

"I'll go in." she said. She slipped in the hole the others had made. It was a close fit but she saw light coming up from the vents. She crawled to see they were over a control room, filled to her dismay. That would never do for an escape route. She crawled past it making enough noise for them to find her. She found a cargo bay the next stop.

"Cargo bay!" she yelled. The others blasted the vent open and Mara judged the distance.

"Use red eco or you'll die on impact." she said.

Matthias nodded channeling it after crushing scatter ammo in his hand, cutting it open. He jumped through the vent and landed making a crater.

"Now he'll catch you." she said throwing him some scatter ammo. He understood her intentions. She dropped Kouri out first and Matthias caught him. She instructed the others to go. She and another were the only one left, a woman name Mareth.

"Why are you wanted?" she asked.

"The program we're trying to escape from? It's not pretty and if you go into it you'll die from dark eco poisoning. I'll die too." she said.

Mareth jumped leaving Mara in the vent. Mara leapt down to see they were all surrounded by KG. She heard clapping.

"Clever." said a voice. It was Michiris, one of the head rats. "Who lead the way?" he asked.

"Mara and Matthias." said Mareth.

"Take those two into custody and kill the rest." he said. Mara pulled out the last piece of scatter ammo she crushed it under her foot and cut a path through the KG letting everyone but her, Matthias, and Mareth escape.

"Kill the spare." said Michiris. Mareth had her neck snapped before you could say 'kangarat'.

Mara felt pressure and pain at the back of her head and she crumpled to the floor. Matthias followed her into darkness soon after.

Mar and Sig arrived to find the survivors hiding in the undergrowth. Metal heads claimed 3 more reducing their ranks to 6. (8 in actuality counting the two prisoners)

"Are you alright?" asked Sig.

"We're fine." said Kouri. Mar saw the child was the youngest at age 8. "Are you going to go save Mara?" he asked.

"Mara?" asked Mar in confusion.

"Wait, you're Jak!" said the remaining woman.

"Mara is the brave girl who helped lead us out. The other leader, Matthias, was also captured helping cover our escape. She knew what they were planning to do to us." said one of the men.

"Sig keep an eye on these six and find out why they were after them." he said.

"That's because all of us are channelers." said Kouri. Mar blinked. ALL of them were channelers? This had to be the biggest amount he'd seen in one area ever.

"You were a channeler once, weren't you?" asked the woman.

"Yes. I still am in a way." he said and walked towards the compound.

He encountered no one. It was empty save for a few computers left on, one containing an information log.:

_DWP: We started with 21 powerful channelers, the Shade being strongest (-survival is unknown-). We had them try to escape in which only 12 made it to the end point. A strange female channeler we didn't have accounted for before the Shade's capture and the rebel Matthias were the leaders and perfect for our plan, it was unfortunate we couldn't see how much eco it took to kill a channeler since they somehow had gotten a hold of gun ammo and crushed it to use the eco with in. _

At this Mar smiled seeing as those morons were still letting ammo lay everywhere.

_The channeler Mara will be our prime experiment. We now know she is the Shade. Her use to us will be more than punishment for what she has done to us. The destruction of half the old fortress, killing over 100 of our soldiers, going AWOL from the guard, never getting the proper markings, hacking into vital databases without authorization, the dispatch of secrets to our enemies, treason, and grand theft auto._

Mar laughed, his list of crimes was only slightly worse. He had over 200 deaths along with 'being in possession of a dangerous substance'. The same 'dangerous substance' they'd so generously pumped into him. He did see that the morons had left their new whereabouts on the report. They were moving her to the Tower, the new palace that was, you guessed it, a tall tower. After downloading all of the information he went back to see Sig was letting the little elf Kouri walk all over him.

"Remind you of Sammy?" he asked.

"Sammy would hurt you if she heard you say that, chili pepper. King or no king." he said.

"You're a king?" asked the 6 channelers at once.

"Yes. If I told you I'd have to kill you." he said.

"Why don't we take all of them to the Wasteland? Channelers are always dead useful." he said.

"My mommy is gone." said Kouri.

"Hate to admit it but none of us have anything." said the woman. The others grumbled in agreement.

"They'll still have to go through the trials." said Mar.

"You'll let us come with you?" asked all of them.

"Sig, take them to the transport and get them to you know where. I'll go bail out this 'Mara' and the other one, if I can." he said.


	5. Chapter 5

**Tsukasa**: Don't shoot, stay those morph guns! CHARACTER DEATH WARNING

I don't own any thing! AU! _**Ignores**_ _**Jak**_ _**X**_ _**completely (Along with Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier)**_. Also the people of Haven revere Jak and Daxter as heroes because of their battle against Gol and Maia and the names are rarely used out of respect to them. They think that the "other" Jak and Daxter's same names being just a coincidence.

Summary: Haven has reverted to it's Hell Hole status: A tyrannical council is rebelling under Ashlien's rule after the dark maker attack and managed to get enough power to re-banish Jak. 16 years after this, Ashlein is assassinated which the reformed Underground led again by Torn is still reeling from. For the first time since Praxis was overthrown, the Shadow (Samos) has been replaced as #1 on Haven's Most Wanted: A mysterious person known simply as 'The Shade' has taken his place. An AWOL guard who knows far too much about certain things but far too little about herself. The Underground can use all the help it can get but will this outlaw help or will she just continue to run?

Chapter 5: Prison Break

**Shade(Mara) POV**

Everything hurts. Those bastards are pumping me full of dark eco, though it is nice to see it's doing nothing to me except make me want to vomit. Matthias isn't doing so well. I'm sure he's dying. He looks paler every treatment. I know I'll die too. No one, save Jak, has ever lived through being pumped full of dark eco. That's because he was the descendant of Mar or something.

"That freak's been reported seen in the city." said Michiris.

"Nonsense, even HE wouldn't return after a second banishment." said another voice. How I wish I could destroy them all. I feel something build up and I nearly vomit again. I see I'm paling too, I'm dying. I don't want to die! I want to see my 16th birthday! I see a tunnel closing in on my vision and the next thing I know is darkness.

**Third POV**

Mar strolls up to the Tower, bold as one could be. Not caring if they knew who he was; they weren't strong enough to enforce their laws. He turned invisible and looked behind himself in time to see two ottsels running after him. One was Danielle the other was a fury face he hadn't seen in years.

"Don't think of pretending; I'm know you're there!" said Daxter.

"Daddy, he's going to save Shade." said Danielle.

"Danny, stay here." he said.

"No! My best friend's in there! She needs me!" she said and zipped past both. Mar picked up Daxter. The invisibility covered him too. They entered and had to get past all of security.

They had the guards believing the Tower was haunted. They found Danielle waiting for them with a pass in her paws.

"B5." she said before she slipped it into the wall, which turned out to be the elevator.

"Those guards are dumb, they think this place is haunted." said Daxter.

"I think we're wasting time." Said Mar. "The sooner we bail out Danielle's friend the sooner I can get out of Haven."

"So you're not even going to try to help?" asked Daxter.

"Should I? How's Keira?" asked Mar.

"Dead. She died nine years ago." said Daxter as they entered the elevator.

"And you people neglected to send word to Spargus that my wife died?" asked Mar angrily.

"We didn't have anyways of contacting you except the rare wastelander on a mission for you and we didn't know how to tell you." Said Daxter. Mar pushed the emptiness knowing at him away for another time and let his anger keep it at bay as they neared B5.

Before the rescuers even stepped into the building Matthias was sick and he saw the unconscious Mara twitching slightly. It was a shame. She wouldn't live to her next birthday. His son would grow up without either parent. He saw something small slither into his cell through the bars.

"Hey there're two elves in here! Eww! One's been puking!"

"Is one of them Mara?" asked an obnoxious voice.

"Yeah. She looks awful." Said the thing. He saw it was cream colored and fuzzy with his impaired vision. "Hey, can you move?" it asked him.

"Yeah, will she be ok?" he asked weakly.

"Not sure, but if we get you guys some light eco you'll both be good." Said the cream colored fuzzy figure. Matthias almost laughed in disbelief about light eco but he heard the door being ripped off its hinges.

"Hey could you channel some eco into this guy?" asked Danielle of Mar who had just transformed back from dark form. He saw the other channeler and bent down next to him and channeled light eco into the man.

As his vision cleared Matthias saw the last person he'd expect in Haven; Jak the man who had saved Haven not once but twice. The older elf looked no older than Matthias, in fact he looked younger but his eyes gave him away.

"I don't think you have enough eco to heal the girl. She had triple the dark eco pumped into her." Said Matthias.

"Then we'll get her out of here." Said the little ottsel.

"Danielle, she may not make it." Said Daxter.

"No! She will!" said Danielle bounding over to her friend.

"So, you dare return to Haven after we made it clear we didn't want or need you, eco freak?" said a voice.

Mar, Matthias, Daxter, and Danielle turned to see Michiris, the new head of council and a bigger slime than Veris standing there.

"Sorry to burst your bubble Mickey Mouse but we're taking Mara and we're leaving." Said Daxter.

"Yeah, Monchichi." Added Streak

"It's Michiris! Aside from your obviously lacking in intelligence rat friends, your elf friends have realized the inevitable. Haven't we Jak? It was so much fun strangling your wife to death after she'd just talked herself out of suicide. She'd left a note and everything." He said. The buffoon had sealed his doom when he added,

"A fate this girl will share once we are done with her." Jak motioned for the others to get behind him, Matthias standing and running over to the still unconscious Mara. He picked the smaller elf up and nearly dropped her as dark eco crackled all over her body. He saw Jak had assumed the monstrous form he was infamous through out Haven for. Michiris didn't stand a chance. He changed back and saw the dark eco crackling all over the girl's body.

"You'd better let me handle this." Mar said taking the elf girl. He was shocked when he felt not only the presence of dark eco in the child's systems but light as well but there was too much dark eco it seemed to be battling the light eco within her.

"We need to get out of here." said Mar once the alarms went off.


	6. Chapter 6

**Tsukasa**: Don't shoot, stay those morph guns! CHARACTER DEATH WARNING

I don't own any thing! AU! _**Ignores**_ _**Jak**_ _**X**_ _**completely (Along with Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier)**_. Also the people of Haven revere Jak and Daxter as heroes because of their battle against Gol and Maia and the names are rarely used out of respect to them. They think that the "other" Jak and Daxter's same names being just a coincidence.

Summary: Haven has reverted to it's Hell Hole status: A tyrannical council is rebelling under Ashlien's rule after the dark maker attack and managed to get enough power to re-banish Jak. 16 years after this, Ashlein is assassinated which the reformed Underground led again by Torn is still reeling from. For the first time since Praxis was overthrown, the Shadow (Samos) has been replaced as #1 on Haven's Most Wanted: A mysterious person known simply as 'The Shade' has taken his place. An AWOL guard who knows far too much about certain things but far too little about herself. The Underground can use all the help it can get but will this outlaw help or will she just continue to run?

Chapter 6 Change in the Winds

As they escaped from the prison level of the Tower they had to fight their ways out. Matthias sticking with the ottsels and Mar like their shadows. They were almost out when the ottsels and Matthias were separated from Mar and Mara.

"Streak calling in back up! Move in and Flash time to go AWOL!" screamed Danielle into a communicator.

There was a loud boom and Boom appeared with Flash, who was still in his guard uniform. Blaze came running.

"I'll be fine!" said Mar, "I'll meet up with you later." He turned invisible and ran swiftly through the busy streets of panicking bystanders.

Boom, Blaze, Flash, and Streak helped Daxter and Matthias vanish into the crowds. They gave Matthias a new set of clothes and a hat to help get him through the crowds to the HQ.

They met up with Mar who was waiting invisibly in the alley and they ducked inside quickly. Torn waiting for them. Mar became visible and handed Mara off to him and turned to Matthias.

"I offered this to the other survivors; you may come to Spargus if you wish." He said.

"Is my son, the little boy, Kouri with the other survivors?" asked Matthias.

"Yes." Said Mar.

"Then I accept."

"Torn, I saved your person so now I'm leaving." Said Mar. He ran right into Samos. Samos saw the look in Mar's eyes.

"We tried telling you-," he began.

"Save it." Said Mar. Samos handed him something as he left. The doors closed and Mar and Matthias were gone.

Samos saw Mara was in bad shape.

"Get her to the infirmary immediately." He said. Torn obeyed with the sage following him closely. Danielle was on the heels of both as Daxter sat looking at the door where his friend had just exited.

Mar needed to go metal head hunting. Once he delivered Matthias to Spargus safely he left Sig in charge of the arena business. He took to sand shark and found a large metal head.

'Perfect.' He thought.

He took all of his rage and grief out on the poor metal head. He stopped once it was dead and looked at what Samos had given him; it was a holo-disk.

Samos looked at the eco levels and found toxic level of both light and dark eco in Mara's body. But how? Unless she naturally produced one of the two ecos or both: He needed a way to draw the eco out of her. He channeled green eco into her systems. All it did was make her glow green and heal some of her bruises.

The only way to get rid of it was for her to channel it, but because she had one eco in excess she was rendered unconscious. It was a paradox.

"Mara, wake up!" said Danielle when it was announced she was in a dark eco induced coma.

"Please, Haven needs you, we need you!" said Flash.

"She won't wake." said Samos gloomily. Her friends refused to leave her side until ordered to by Torn. Samos was alone with her.

"If only you had come to me once your mother died. Then I could have protected you and sent you to the safety of the desert with your father." He said taking a seat next to the prone girl. Torn's orders hadn't stopped her friends from sneaking back into her room late that night.

Everyone was asleep when Flash stole into the complex after cleaning out his apartment and moving into the base. While out, he had overhead a transport driver talking and stolen his keys.

'There's only one person who can help Mara.' Flash thought picking the girl up gently.

"What do you think you're doing?" asked Boom who opened an eye. Blaze was awake and so was Streak.

"I'm taking her to the Wasteland and to Mar because he might know what to do about the dark eco." he said.

"Then I'm going with you chilli pepper as the Wasteland is my home." said Boom sternly.

"We're all going." said Blaze.

"Darn tootin'" said Streak. They snuck out and Samos wouldn't realize the kids were gone until much later.

Flash bumpily piloted the transport out of Haven and into the desert following Boom's instructions. They landed by the city and Boom entered first with Flash on her heals. Blaze and Streak were behind them. She waved at a few people as she passed and they made it to the palace.

"We need to see King Mar." she said to a guard at the entrance to the throne room. He stood to the side once he saw the girl reach for her Peace maker. She entered and saw Mar talking with Sig.

"Sammy what are you doing here with all your friends from the big smoke?" asked Sig.

"It's Mara. She won't wake up. There's too much dark eco in her systems." said Flash.

Mar saw the Erol look alike and had to suppress his hatred. He walked forwards and channeled light eco into the girl's prone form and she began breathing normally.

"Sam, take your friend Mara to the infirmary and the rest of your friends will have to leave Spargus." Said Mar.

"I'm not leaving Mara!" said Streak stubbornly.

"Neither are we." Said Blaze and Flash nodded.

"I'll take care of them King Mar." said Sam, "But Mara will want them here once she wakes up." Sig looked to Mar and he caved.

"Fine, but only for a short time." He said and Sam led the Haveners out of the throne room with Mara in her arms.

They followed Sam through the palace and into a large white room full of beds. She picked a bed farthest from the door and laid Mara down as nurses came and tended to her and chased the other kids out. Sam laughed and led them to the gun.

"Ok chilipeppers! See if you can beat the high score."

After several dismal attempts to beat it, Sam sat laughing and said,

"That score was set by King Mar when he was first banished."

"Mar set this score? Too Cool! I wish my dad had told me more about his days as Mar's sidekick." Said Streak.

"That's King Mar." said Sam sternly.

Matthias had heard that Mara was in Spargus and so had Kouri. He wanted to give Mara a cactus blossom he'd picked for saving the surviving channelers. They walked into the infirmary to see Mara asleep on a bed looking peaceful and her age. What they did not expect to see was King Mar asleep in a chair next to her bed. To say Matthias was shocked would be an understatement. The King he'd seen was a cheerless man but then he realized the Mar was only a few years older than he, but his life had been far harder than his.

Then he also noticed a strong resemblance between the desert king and the only girl to ever top the Shadow on Haven's most wanted.

'Mar, Mar-a! Duh!' he thought. Kouri placed the flower on Mara's bed and Matthias ushered the small child out of the room.

What Mar had discovered via the holodisk was Keira's farewell message and a shocking revelation: He had a daughter and her name was Mara and she bore great resemblance to him. After he'd heard this he realized the Mara he'd saved was his own daughter. After a while he was going to send for her and get her out of Haven.

He made sure that the nurses were clear of the infirmary before checking on the girl himself. He awoke the next morning to a nurse shaking him awake and he saw the girl was gone.

"Did you not hear her leave?" asked the nurse and Mar shook his head and walked out of the room. He thought hard, the girl had half his DNA and half Keira's meaning… He knew exactly where she would be.

Mar walked through Spargus waving to citizens and he entered the garage. He saw Kliever, looking annoyed with Veager on his shoulder as there was a pair of legs under a Sand Shark and a blue print out.

"That girl came in here looking for something to do and then goes to fixing one of _**my**_ vehicles!" said Kleiver.

"Mara." Said Mar. The feet moved and a grease-covered Mara emerged.

"What ever you guys have been doing to these things is causing more damage than the metal heads." She said and Mar chuckled and Kleiver looked at the young King as if he'd grown an extra head.

"Kleiver is in charge of vehicles here." Said Mar.

"Well what does he use to maintain these things? A Crowbar and some duct tape?" asked Mara. Kleiver glared at the smaller girl and stormed out. Mar smirked; she was just like Keira when it came to machines.

"Thanks for saving my life." Said Mara bowing.

"You'd better get cleaned up and back to the infirmary." He said.

"Alright, King Mar." said Mara bowing and walking out, Mar shook his head and followed.


	7. Chapter 7

**Tsukasa**: Don't shoot, stay those morph guns! CHARACTER DEATH WARNING

I don't own any thing! AU! _**Ignores**_ _**Jak**_ _**X**_ _**completely (Along with Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier)**_. Also the people of Haven revere Jak and Daxter as heroes because of their battle against Gol and Maia and the names are rarely used out of respect to them. They think that the "other" Jak and Daxter's same names being just a coincidence.

Summary: Haven has reverted to it's Hell Hole status: A tyrannical council is rebelling under Ashlien's rule after the dark maker attack and managed to get enough power to re-banish Jak. 16 years after this, Ashlein is assassinated which the reformed Underground led again by Torn is still reeling from. For the first time since Praxis was overthrown, the Shadow (Samos) has been replaced as #1 on Haven's Most Wanted: A mysterious person known simply as 'The Shade' has taken his place. An AWOL guard who knows far too much about certain things but far too little about herself. The Underground can use all the help it can get but will this outlaw help or will she just continue to run?

Chapter 7 Revelations**  
**

The Haveners were shocked to see Mara walk past them covered in grease. Sam followed her in a heart beat and the others joined Sam.

"Come with me Chilli pepper." said Sam leading them into a modest house. She and Mara disappeared into another room and emerged with Mara wearing a sleeveless blue shirt, a red scarf, and tan pants that tucked into boots. Her green and blonde hair was still in its braid.

"We need to go talk to King Mar. Then we have to go save Haven." Said Sam. "That way I can come home and stay home."

"Sounds like a plan, though, I kinda like it here. Everyone has a gun, we're all outcasts, and no one is a corrupt bureaucrat out to ruin anyone's life." Said Mara not realizing a certain ugly ottsel had been just that once.

They walked back to the palace and into the throne room. Mar was there with Sig. Mara bowed first with the others mimicking her.

"I thank you for your help." Said Mara. Mar nodded in her direction.

"Well chilli pepper, only to get captured once and because someone sold you out makes you wastelander material." Said Sig.

"Could I try for citizenship after I save Haven? I have no love for the city, well except for racing." Said Mara. Mar smirked.

"The King likes racing as well." Said Sam from Mara's left.

"Would he be willing to race me someday?" asked Mara.

"You have to prove yourself first, Chilli pepper." Said Sig.

"You all may stay in Spargus for four more days. That's all I will allow." Said Mar.

"Thank you." Said Mara.

"Why does your one friend resemble Erol?" asked Mar.

"He was my uncle. I was fortunate never to meet him, he sounded like a bastard." said Flash. "I have no love for the guard because I saw what Mara had found on a certain program."

"Now we have matters to attend with Mara." Said Sig.

"We go where she goes." Said Streak.

"Does your father know you're here?" asked Mar.

"No he does not!" said an angry Daxter striding in with an equally angry Tess.

"Mom, dad, how'd you get here?" asked Streak nervously.

"We have our own ways of getting out here." Said Daxter. Tess nodded.

"They hitched a ride from me. Lay off the cr-AAAWK-ers." Complained Pecker

"What is that thing?" asked Mara looking at Pecker.

"I am a monkaw!" Pecker said indignantly. "Onin said she foresaw a destiny as great as your father's for you."

"And who is that?" asked Mara.

"You shall discover that soon enough." Said Pecker.

"I never get any answers! My mom never really explains why she committed suicide, why she never introduced me to my log-up-his-butt grandfather, and never tells me who my dad was!" said Mara and she stormed out of the room.

"Uh-oh. When she gets ticked she tends to go all berserker." Said Streak.

"Berserker?" asked Sig.

"Yeah she either glows with white-blue light or she gets all pale and goes on a guard killing spree. Well the latter has only happened once. She took down half the fortress." said Blaze.

"I'd better follow her." Said Mar and he turned invisible and slipped out of the room.

"What did she mean by all that?" asked Daxter.

"I don't know, she never told me about her mom." Said Streak and it was obvious she was lying.

"It's taboo. She made us swear to never talk about her mom. Usually when she's angry she'll say things but she loved her mother very much and she's still hurt by her mother's death." Said Streak.

"Us meaning?" asked Sig.

"Us girls. She never told the boys a thing about her mom." Said Sam.

"What was her mom's name?" asked Tess.

"Taboo." Said both girls.

"We're going to keep bugging you until you tell us." Said Flash.

"You do that and I'll have to kick your skinny ass all the way back to Haven." Said Sam.

"You would not." Said Blaze.

"I would." Said Sam getting angry.

"Wouldn't"

"Would."

"Wouldn't"

"Would."

"Wouldn't"

"Would."

"Wouldn't"

"Would."

"Wouldn't"

"Would."

"ENOUGH! WE ALL KNOW SAM IS CAPABLE OF KICKING BLAZE AND FLASH'S BUTTS BACK TO HAVEN!" said Streak very annoyed.

"So what was her mother's name?" asked Daxter.

Mar found Mara had found her way to the gun and was obliterating every target she saw.

"I could teach you to control your berserker modes." He said and this caused her to miss several targets.

"Would you?" she asked. She seemed calm enough now.

"Come with me." He said. She followed the monarch through the city and into the arena.

"This arena is the only place in the city where it is safe for you to tap into your abilities." Said Mar.

"So how do I control them?" asked Mara.

"First concentrate and feel for the force within that feels nice." Said Mar. Mara nodded and found it. "Now concentrate on channeling it." Mara did so and glowed brightly. In her place, Light Mara now stood.

"I'm in control!" she said amazed and her voice ecoed. Mar noted her form was whiter than his was but her wings were still similar.

"Now focus on becoming normal again." Said Mar. Light Mara closed her eyes and the Light transformation faded.

"So now what?" asked Mara.

"There should be a dark force within as well." Said Mar.

"What if I lose control?" asked Mara.

"I can handle it." Said Mar as his eyes crackled with dark eco for a moment. Mara nodded and reached into the darkness and yelled out in pain. The pain was immense and when she opened her eyes she felt more alert, and more blood thirsty.

'No, bad Mara!' she thought. Dark Mara looked to Mar and he nodded.

"Now defend yourself!" he said and he transformed into Dark Mar and charged Dark Mara who leapt back in self defense.

Neither noticed the gathering crowd. They watched with half amazed half shocked faces as the two dark sides fought. Dark Mar was stronger and more experienced, but Dark Mara was quicker and more agile. Dark Mar used a Dark Bomb and Dark Mara avoided most of it, a little of it zapping her, but she was not used to getting hit by Dark Eco, this dropping her to the ground in pain and forcing her to revert to normal. She quickly tapped into her Light and became Light Mara and began throwing fireballs of light at Dark Mar.

Dark Mar was amazed by her usage of Light Eco. She flew upwards and was avoiding Dark Blasts from him as he was avoiding Light Bolts from her.

It ended with Mar switching to Light Mar and tackling the tiring girl from the air. He helped her up and they heard cheering and saw the crowd. He shook his head and turned to Mara.

"If you work on your powers you'll get stronger." He said. "I've had my light and dark side for a long time."

"Thank you, King Mar." said Mara bowing and walking out of the arena.

Mar soon followed the younger channeler out of the arena.

Mara kept walking and found her friends still arguing with Daxter and Sig.

"Mara, they keep trying to make us breach the taboo." Said Streak.

"What, about my mom?" asked Mara.

"Yes." Said Sam.

"Fine, if you want to know her name so bad she was Keira Hagai." said Mara. The room froze with the exception of Mar, Sam, and Streak.

"Your mother didn't kill herself." Said Mar.

"How would you know?" asked Mara getting angry.

"Well that Michelle Pfeiffer guy said he had strangled her. His mistake was he said that in front of Mar. Last mistake he ever made. Wait-," Thump! Streak was down.

"Why is everyone staring at me as if I've grown an extra head!" said Mara getting annoyed.

"That is because Keira was my wife." Said Mar softly.

"That would make you my-," said Mara and she too was down for the count.


	8. Chapter 8

**Tsukasa**: Don't shoot, stay those morph guns! CHARACTER DEATH WARNING

I don't own any thing! AU! _**Ignores**_ _**Jak**_ _**X**_ _**completely (Along with Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier)**_. Also the people of Haven revere Jak and Daxter as heroes because of their battle against Gol and Maia and the names are rarely used out of respect to them. They think that the "other" Jak and Daxter's same names being just a coincidence.

Summary: Haven has reverted to it's Hell Hole status: A tyrannical council is rebelling under Ashlien's rule after the dark maker attack and managed to get enough power to re-banish Jak. 16 years after this, Ashlein is assassinated which the reformed Underground led again by Torn is still reeling from. For the first time since Praxis was overthrown, the Shadow (Samos) has been replaced as #1 on Haven's Most Wanted: A mysterious person known simply as 'The Shade' has taken his place. An AWOL guard who knows far too much about certain things but far too little about herself. The Underground can use all the help it can get but will this outlaw help or will she just continue to run?

Chapter 8: Getting it sorted out**  
**

Mar caught Mara as she fell. He sighed as Daxter revived Streak.

"Mara!" she said before she dashed over to Mar holding Mara. She then said,

"KG RAID!" Mara awoke with a jolt, pulling free of Mar's grasp, and reaching for weapons she didn't have.

"Relax!" said Streak. Mar chuckled as Mara looked around warily before seeming to remember where she was. Mara then rounded on the ottsel.

"Not funny." She growled her eyes crackling with dark eco. Streak said,

"Calm down, you don't want to go berserker on your best friend do you?" Mara relaxed and looked over at Mar uncomfortably.

"If it helps, I didn't find out about until a few days ago." Said Mar.

"Why would my mom have kept you out of the loop like that? I mean why did she keep me out of the loop? Why didn't she tell me who you were?" said Mara getting angry, "I need to go practice my shooting." She left and Mar followed her, Sam stopping Streak from trying to follow suit.

"That cherry is mad and Mar needs to figure out how to act around her. They need to adjust to each other and you and I know this is not going to go smooth at all." Said the Wastelander.

Mara obliterated all the targets and pictured Veris, Mirchiris and various other people she'd run afoul of in her life but she could bring her self to use her mother's face because as angry as she was at her mother she could still see her side of all of the things gone wrong. Her mother never spoke of her father because her father, Jak or Mar as he seemed to prefer to be called, had been banished, and it was probably very painful to be separated from the one you love with his memory bringing you pain. A six year old could not be trusted with very much information and her mother did not want to burden her. But it still hurt her mother kept all of this from her.

'It's funny, I haven't worn a full helmet in days and yet I feel no need to cover my face anymore,' she mused as she destroyed the last target getting the next to highest score.

"I see you get rid of anger the same way I do." Said Mar's voice from behind her making her jump.

"You knew my light and dark were hereditary when you helped me gain some control, didn't you?" she said.

"Yes." He said. Mara sat awkwardly and she said,

"It's hard to believe that the hero I grew up idolizing is really my father."

"Idolizing?" asked Mar.

"Well you _only _took out the metalhead leader and you were a rallying point for those who were rebelling against the new council. When I first managed to get a place of my own, and Streak came over to spend the night to break it in, she told me stories of you and her dad's adventures, well she altered them to how she think they really happened and not the tall tales her dad told her. She also told me a couple of precursorian legends about heroes who had your name and her dad's names who took out the Sages of Dark Eco." Said Mara. Mar smiled,

"Would you believe me if I told you that we were the same heroes who defeated Gol and Maia?" he said.

"No way!" said Mara.

"It's a long story." He said.

"Well I'm still kinda mad at Streak so I've got time." Said Mara. 'Plus hearing the full length actual story might help me get my mind off my mother.'

"Alright, for Dax and me, it started 20 years ago when I was just 15…"

Elsewhere, Flash, Blaze, Sam, and Streak were under the watchful eye of Sig and Daxter.

"You sure Mara and Mar are going to have a rough time of this? I mean, neither knew of the other and the only common factor is that Keira didn't tell either." Said Streak.

"True. Mara isn't dumb; she inherited brains from both sides." Said Boom.

In Haven…

"Keep searching, they couldn't have gotten far with her!" said Samos panicked. His granddaughter was missing and so far no traces of her had been found. His greatest fear was anyone connecting her with the royal family; if anyone did they could use her to take over the city.

In Spargus,

"Wow. And you still loved mom even after she sorta rejected you for having been tortured for 2 years straight with dark eco?" said Mara. She saw a pained look in Mar's eyes.

"Sorry." She said.

"It's alright." Said Mar.

"So what's the deal with these amulets?" asked Mara holding hers up.

"They mark the heirs of the House of Mar. I gave the seal your wearing to your mother just before I was banished a second time so she could remember me. I suppose I left her with a little more than just the amulet." He said looking at Mara.

"I could never bring myself to hate her even though she abandoned me when I was 6." Said Mara.

"I suppose maybe it was fate. I'm certain that bastard who you killed your mother would have murdered you on sight if you had still been with her at the time." Mar said.

"Thanks." Said Mara.

"For what?" asked Mar.

"Being here: But I have to rescue Haven from it's self. I'll come back, I promise." Said Mara standing up. "After all, if you can defy the odds and kick fate in the balls then so can I."

"As much as I want to order you to stay somehow I know that you'll just leave anyway." Said Mar.

"Damn straight." Said Mara.


	9. Chapter 9

**Tsukasa**: Don't shoot, stay those morph guns! CHARACTER DEATH WARNING

I don't own any thing! AU! _**Ignores**_ _**Jak**_ _**X**_ _**completely (Along with Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier)**_. Also the people of Haven revere Jak and Daxter as heroes because of their battle against Gol and Maia and the names are rarely used out of respect to them. They think that the "other" Jak and Daxter's same names being just a coincidence.

Summary: Haven has reverted to it's Hell Hole status: A tyrannical council is rebelling under Ashlien's rule after the dark maker attack and managed to get enough power to re-banish Jak. 16 years after this, Ashlein is assassinated which the reformed Underground led again by Torn is still reeling from. For the first time since Praxis was overthrown, the Shadow (Samos) has been replaced as #1 on Haven's Most Wanted: A mysterious person known simply as 'The Shade' has taken his place. An AWOL guard who knows far too much about certain things but far too little about herself. The Underground can use all the help it can get but will this outlaw help or will she just continue to run?

Chapter 9: New Beginning**  
**

Mara and Mar returned to the throne room.

"Pack up troops we're headed out." Said Mara. "The sooner we bail out Haven the sooner we can either pick up the pieces or leave for good."

"Hear! Hear! Cherry!" said Sam excited at the prospect of never seeing Haven again.

"Let's go be heroes!" said Danielle leaping onto Mara's shoulder.

"Jak, don't they look like the analogue of us?" asked Daxter from near Mar's left knee. Mar nodded. It was almost eerie looking at the pair. He could see the care free pair he and Daxter used to be. Almost, but not quite: Mara and Danielle had lost their innocence to Haven.

Mara looked over at Mar and Daxter and nodded to them as they turned to leave.

"Be careful Danikins!" said Tess tearfully as she clutched a small ottsel sized hankercheif.

Once the kids left Sig turned to the adults.

"What do you say to one last adventure chillipeppers?" he asked. It wasn't a hard choice for them: Stay put and worry or go blow things up.

The group of children arrived back in Haven and the Underground HQ in the midst of Samos's panic.

"Where were you children! Mara has been missing for days! We need to find her before she is used by the council!" he yelled.

"Uh, Gramps?" said Mara as he continued to yell.

"GRANDPA GREEN!" yelled Danielle at the top of her lungs. Samos stopped and Mara waved at him cheekily.

"WHERE IN PRECURSORS' NAME HAVE YOU BEEN!" he yelled.

"Spargus. Doing what, recovering, with who King Mar." said Mara. "He was able to get my ecos back into balance."

"You had us all worried." Said Samos. Torn appeared and glared at the group of kids.

"I ought to have all of you expelled from the Underground but since Samos won't let me I'm confining the lot of you to maintenance duty." He said. An explosion shook the hideout.

"Never mind." He growled.

Mara raced outside to see several very large metalheads roaming the city.

"We've got to move quickly to save as many civis as possible!" she yelled as she became Light Mara. Torn stepped back seeing her in her glowing form.

"It's alright. I can control it." She said, her voice echoing slightly. She took off into the sky like an angel. She arrived by the main group of metal heads and rained down light bolts doing severe damage to the whole group.

"Who dares try to stop us!" hissed a gasping voice. Light Mara turned to see two, pale, floating, twisted forms near by.

"I do!" she yelled.

"A precursor?" asked the man, who had spoken before.

"No. Just an elf channeling light eco!" said Light Mara throwing a bolt at the pair who dodged her attack. "Who are you and why are you attacking Haven?"

"Foolish girl, has history forgotten Gol and Maia the Sages of Dark Eco?" sneered the woman.

"No, but you're supposed to be sealed in a vat of Dark Eco." Said another voice and Light Mara saw Light Mar fly up beside her. "How did you escape?" he asked.

"A fool from this time released us." Said Gol throwing dark eco at the pair who formed light shields.

"Are you ok, Mara?" Light Mar asked.

"I'm fine dad." Said Light Mara.

"Father and daughter fighting together: How sickening!" said Maia lunging at Light Mara who flew backwards to avoid the strike.

"I'm running low on Light Eco!" she said.

"Hold on!" Light Mar said tackling Gol to the ground before flying up to Light Mara.

"This should help you. I'm better at fighting in my other form anyway." Said Light Mar as the transformation faded. Light Mara set Mar down.

"Thanks and be careful dad!" said Light Mara as she flew to resume her fight with Maia. Gol got a good look at Mar's face.

"YOU!" he yelled in rage.

"Yes, me." Said Mar.

"How did you survive the ages Jak?" asked Gol.

"I didn't: I traveled here to this time using Precursor technology." said Mar. "Technology we found in your old fortress."

"YOU WILL PAY FOR OUR CENTURIES OF SUFFERING!" yelled Gol. He threw a massive ball of Dark Eco at Mar who didn't even move to avoid it. It stung a bit but Mar shrugged it off.

"That all you got?" he asked, his own eyes crackling with dark eco turning black as he rapidly became Dark Mar.

"You finally see the beauty of the Dark yet you'll still fight me?" asked Gol in shock. Dark Mar smirked sadistically in response.

Up in the sky, Light Mara was countering Maia blast for blast.

"Surrender!" said Maia.

"Why? One tiny bolt of this and you're history." Said Light Mara. "And dark eco doesn't scare me like light eco scares you." Maia took the bait and managed to successfully tackle Light Mara from the sky. The Light channeler's form burned her but the pain Light Mara was suffering made up for her own. Light Mara concentrated on a light bolt forming on her mouth and spat it at Maia forcing the dark channeler off of herself.

'Memo to me: never do another light eco mouth blast.' Thought Light Mara rubbing her jaw in pain as her transformation faded. Maia was badly hurt from the light eco blast. Mara saw the edges of her vision closing in and quickly turned into Dark Mara and channeled all of her energy into a finishing move on Maia. Once she was gone and the transformation faded Mara ran over to the side of the ruined street and threw up. She felt awful and somewhat empty with eco the presence of light or dark eco in her system.

'It's up to you dad.' She thought.

On the other side of Haven Daxter, Danielle, Sig, Sam, Torn, Spike(Blaze), and Flash were leading the underground against metal heads and the remainder of the corrupt council.

"Think maybe you could convince Mar to become King here?" asked Sam to Sig.

"What are you two talking about?" asked Torn.

"Well you remember those stories of Gol and Maia?" asked Daxter.

"What about them?" asked Torn annoyed at Daxter.

"Well the truth is Jak and I are the same Jak and Daxter who took out Gol and Maia. We found a precursor artifact and when we activated it the metal heads came streaming through and we were thrown into the future where we met the kid. It turns out the kid was actually Jak's past self. So we sent him and younger grandpa green to the past so that this strange confusing time paradox could continue to run its course." Said Daxter.

"You expect me to believe Jak is the heir of-," said Torn and realized Mar's name change.

"Damas told Jak to find Mar for him not knowing that Jak _was_ Mar. So in honor of his father Jak took on his birth name again." Said Tess.

"So wait, does that mean Mara is actually Princess Mara?" asked Flash.

"Yes it does, cherry." Said Sam.

"Long live the king!" said Sig as they charged the metal heads.

Gol and Dark Mar were still wrestling.

"**Your sister has fallen Gol, give it up**!" said Dark Mar, well it was more like a deep rumbling growl.

"Never Jak! I will have my revenge!" Gol gasped. "Then I'll destroy that pretty little daughter of yours!" This only served to infuriate Dark Mar more as he continued to pound Gol with every ounce of dark eco he had. But his anger was making him sloppy and soon Gold had him pinned, his claws centimeters above the normal Mar's throat.

"Now die with the knowledge your offspring will join you soon!" Gol yelled. He then felt something tap his should and he turned to see Mara holding a morph gun in her hands: a charged morph gun in Peacemaker mode that is. She didn't have the chance to use it though because Dark Mar stabbed Gol through with his fist. Gol died choking on his angry words of once again being stopped by Jak.

"Thanks for the distraction," he said rubbing his throat as he resumed being normal.

"Well, if you hadn't given me that light eco we may not have been talking right now." said Mara shrugging.

All the metal heads screamed in pain as their masters died. This gave the elves fighting them the perfect opportunity to eradicate them once and for all. Mar and Mara were still in the front lines, fighting with morph-guns blazing along with Sig and Sam (Who were having a metalhead killing contest), Daxter and Danielle were hidden in small nooks and crannies sniping at metalheads.

"35! How many are you on, Poopsie Bear?" Sig asked Sam.  
"Da-ad! How many times have I asked you not to call me that, and 40!" yelled Sam, "41!"

"Not bad chilly pepper. 36! 37! 38! 39! 40! 41! 42!43!" Sig yelled back.

"Ok Old man!" replied Sam, "42! Watch your six!"

"Thanks cherry! 44!" said Sig.

"43! 44! 45!" said Sam

"45!46!47! 48! 49!" said Sig.

The battle ended once the last metal head was killed (by Mar by the way). The Elves cheered and danced in the streets. Sig had won the metal head killing contest 66 to 54.

"What an ending." Said Tess hugging Daxter.

"Not an ending mom, a beginning." said Danielle, "A new beginning."


	10. Chapter 10

**Tsukasa**: Don't shoot, stay those morph guns! CHARACTER DEATH WARNING

I don't own any thing! AU! _**Ignores**_ _**Jak**_ _**X**_ _**completely (Along with Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier)**_. Also the people of Haven revere Jak and Daxter as heroes because of their battle against Gol and Maia and the names are rarely used out of respect to them. They think that the "other" Jak and Daxter's same names being just a coincidence.

Summary: Haven has reverted to it's Hell Hole status: A tyrannical council is rebelling under Ashlien's rule after the dark maker attack and managed to get enough power to re-banish Jak. 16 years after this, Ashlein is assassinated which the reformed Underground led again by Torn is still reeling from. For the first time since Praxis was overthrown, the Shadow (Samos) has been replaced as #1 on Haven's Most Wanted: A mysterious person known simply as 'The Shade' has taken his place. An AWOL guard who knows far too much about certain things but far too little about herself. The Underground can use all the help it can get but will this outlaw help or will she just continue to run?

Chapter 10: Finale

The council was thrown out of power by the people after they were informed of all the council had really done. Mar (Jak) was pardoned by the provisional government. Mar accepted and planed on leaving Haven for good despite this. Mara was forgiven her crimes and her old KG commander commended her on bravery.

"It's a pity you went AWOL. We could have used a man, er, girl like you." He said.

"I have problems with authority." said Mara shaking his hand, "It's a hereditary thing." That too was public knowledge. King Mar of Spargus was the father of Mara Mar formerly known as The Shade.

"Why aren't you taking the throne?" asked Torn of Mar.

"Doubt they'd want me." said Mar as they walked to the celebratory dinner that marked the beginning of a hopeful future.

"What do you mean, him take the throne?" asked the temporary head of Haven.

"He's the Heir to the throne." Said Torn.

"Jak? What happened to the young prince?" asked the temporary head.

"That was Jak's much younger half brother. Jak was born out of wedlock to King Damas and the woman he wanted to marry." said Daxter lying effortlessly. No one alive remembered the old King and didn't know he'd have never cheated on his wife.

The temporary head looked at Mar in shock and looked at Mara who was currently sitting with the other teenagers: As far from their parents as possible. Danielle was dancing on the table and the others were laughing at her and clapping to give her a rhythm to dance to.

"Daxie, how would you feel if we had another little ottsel?" Tess asked.

"Tessie Poo are we?" asked Daxter.

"Yes." said Tess and Daxter hugged his wife carefully and began to dance around. Mar watched him sadly. Sig clapped his hand on Mar's shoulder.

"I feel the same way when I'm reminded I don't have Sammy's mom anymore." he said. Mar nodded to the older wastelander thankfully.

Mara and the other teens had deserted the table and began dancing themselves. Sam dancing with Spike, Mara dancing with Flash; Mar had to check his own ire seeing his daughter dancing with that Erol look alike.

"I'm guessing you'd never be King of Haven?" asked the temporary head.

"Haven's done too much to me for me to want to rule it." said Mar.

"Perhaps she could rule it." said the temporary head looking at Mara. Mar wanted to say no, but in reality she could do what she wanted.

"You'd have to ask her." said Mar.

"I doubt she wants to rule either, cherry. You chillipeppers have done too much to her too." said Sig.

Mar watched the teens who had been fighting most of their lives look actually carefree. Torn, Sig, and Mar toasted to their lost spouses. Daxter and Tess danced happily on the dance floor off to the side to avoid getting stepped on.

The next day the temporary government called Mar and Mara before them in a public session.

"We have called you here today to honor you not only as heroes but as the only two family members of the Royal House of Mar left in all of Haven." said the temporary head.

People gasped and Mar narrowed his eyes,

'What is this guy getting at?' he wondered.

"We offer to Mara Mar the opportunity to be queen as Mar has already be crowned king of Spargus." said the temporary head. People gasped again: A 15 year old girl as Queen of all Haven. Mara was shocked.

'Why offer this to me?' she wondered. She knew what she had to do.

"I decline and offer the throne instead to my cousin, Spike." as it turned out Ashlein and Mar were in fact cousins: Praxis's own wife was Mar's paternal aunt. People knew of Spike's own heritage and knew he was too of the house of Mar, just not the direct line like Mara.

"We accept this offer." said the council, Spike nodded.

And so the Grandson of Baron Praxis was placed on the throne of Haven without trying to kill the heirs to the throne.

Three days later

**Mara POV**

I enjoy sunsets, especially ones from the roof of the palace. It was so odd returning here with …Dad. It's strange to think just half a year ago I had no idea who he was and now, not only is he alive, but he's a King to boot. They had me instated as Princess and it's getting annoying with people bowing to me. Since this is Spargus there aren't any suck ups aside from that weirdo ottsel what's-his'name? Vegan? Vulcan? Vee-jer? Oh Veager. Veager seems almost afraid of me. Must have been something …dad did. I heard foot steps and I assume it's dad and wave without looking.

"Mara?" asked Flash's voice and I turn to look at him. I'm surprised Dad let him in the city considering who he looks like.

"Flash, what are you doing here?" I asked.

"I'm here as Haven's Ambassador to Spargus, as appointed by King Spike." said Flash. "It's so strange to think of him as King Spike or you as Princess Mara."

"Then don't. To you I'm just Shade and to me he's still Blaze. Sam's been named our ambassador to Haven and despite her blustering I know she wants to see Spike again: Boom's worse than me when it comes to emotions." I said. Without warning Flash kissed me. He pulled away and I froze. Me, the most wanted girl in Haven's history, daughter of a hero (Twice over), princess of a warrior city, was standing blushing like some girlie-girl.

Had he pulled this six months ago I'd have decked him, but instead I turned to the sunset.

"Think tomorrow will be as bright?" I asked changing the subject and trying to hide my burning cheeks.

"I think so." said Flash grabbing my hand. This time I kissed him and knew this all felt right somehow.

Whatever the future may bring, whether it be more enemies from the past, strange creatures from the future with their robot side kicks, or whacko precursor crap, I know that I'll be able to face it with my friends and family at my side, now having more to life than racing.

(Which my dad kicked my scrawny ass to the curb in just before we left Haven; I insisted on racing him before we left. He won by a whole half lap.)

I'm not afraid of staying in place anymore, and I'm finally proud of being me. Just Mara.

THE END


End file.
